Why is it always me?
by toldyouamilliontimes
Summary: Kind of the story of how Neville and Hannah got together. I'd always wondered so I decided to write about it. Involves lots of flashbacks and quotes from the books. Hope you like it. :
1. Chapter 1

Neville had now realised that mixing the butter beer and the fire whisky had been a huge mistake.

His head collided with a door frame and he staggered backwards, falling onto a luckily unoccupied chair that stood in the corner of small living room in the house he did not recognise. Many of the old Hogwarts students were there, standing around talking, laughing, and drinking. Trying to forget the darkened days, months, and years that they had passed. It was hard for most of them to move past those days, especially those who had lost the ones most close to them, even though all threat of danger was gone.

There were some people at the party that Neville didn't recognise. Although most of the guests were old members of Dumbledore's Army, his blurred vision didn't help him identify them. He thought he recognised a girl in the doorway who was looking straight at him, but he was soon distracted, wondering why the chair he was sat in felt like it was moving.

"Are you okay there, Neville?" someone asked him. It was Hermione, who was sitting right next to him. He couldn't understand why her voice was echoing so much.

"No." he replied, trying to take a swig from the bottle in his hand, but Hermione snatched it off him.

"I think you've had enough of that." she said.

"Give it back!"

"No. You've already had too much."

"I don't care! Give it back!"

"I care, so no."

"You don't care. You don't really. You never have."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Oh, you know." Neville replied as if it was obvious. "For like, five years. Five years I spent liking you, and look where that got me."

"Neville..." Hermione started to say, sounding quite shocked, but he wasn't listening. His mind had taken him away from the crowded house, back to a time that now felt so long ago. Back to a crowded train platform with a scarlet red steam engine.

"_Gran, I've lost my toad again." I said sheepishly, knowing how she would react._

"_Oh, Neville," she sighed, rolling her eyes at me. "You really do have the memory of a goldfish. I'm going to have to buy you a Remembrall. With your luck I'd be surprised if you come home at Christmas with anything more than a sock."_

_Her words were hardly encouraging, but I was used to it. Right now I was more worried about Trevor. What if he was on the platform? What if someone accidentally stood on him? Great-Uncle Algie would be so upset if anything happened to that toad..._

_This was also not the only bad thing that had happened to me today. I'd overslept, forgotten to pack half of the stuff that I needed, almost fell down the stairs and my trunk had burst open with everything falling out of it. Twice. Gran had made sure that we had got to the platform early, so that she was sure I couldn't miss the train and be stranded in London, but now I had lost Trevor, and this just seemed a step too far. I clenched my fists together, trying to stop myself from breaking down in tears. Gran didn't seem to notice._

"_Come along now Neville. I'm sure Trevor will be on the train. You can ask people if they've seen him when the train starts moving, now go and find your seat."_

"_Gran... I don't want to go any more..."_

"_Don't be so ridiculous Neville. Honestly. Now go and find your seat. I'll write to you soon."_

"_Gran..."_

"_Of you go, dear." she said, gently pushing me towards the train. Despite her appearance, she was quite strong and forceful._

_I found my seat and sat down just as the train started to move. I looked out of the window, and Gran smiled and waved, ignoring the panic-stricken face of her grandson as he left for school for the first time. All alone. I started rummaging through my trunk to check if Trevor had climbed inside, but I couldn't find him anywhere._

_Regretfully, I started to walk down the train, knocking on the doors of each compartment and asking people if they'd seen a toad. None of them said they had, and many people just laughed in my face. I reached the last compartment at the end of the train, my last hope. Tears were welling up in my eyes as I knocked on the door and slid it open._

_Inside the compartment sat two first years, like me. One of them was lanky, with messy black hair and round glasses. The other had bright red hair and a mark on the side of his nose, but he didn't seem to care._

"_Sorry," I said, trying not to sound too pathetic and upset, "but have you seen a toad at all?"_

_Both of them shook their heads, and I had to resist the urge to break down again._

"_I've lost him!" I wailed, unable now to control the pitch of my voice. "He keeps getting away from me!"_

"_He'll turn up," the black haired boy said, trying to give me a comforting smile._

"_Yes... Well, if you see him." I mumbled, sliding the door of the compartment closed again._

_As I walked back up the train I heard the red haired one say "Don't know why he's so bothered. If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could..."_

_A tear rolled down my cheek and a looked at the floor as I trudged back towards my compartment, but even then, I ended up walking straight into someone. I mumbled my apologies, but I don't think she heard me._

"_What's your name? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" she asked quickly. She had bushy brown hair and a kind face. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes, and tried to smile at me encouragingly as I spoke._

"_I'm Neville... and I've lost my toad."_

_That was obviously, the best introduction someone could ever hope for._

"_Don't worry Neville, I'll help you find it!" she said enthusiastically, strolling back to the end of the train. "My name is Hermione by the way. Hermione Granger. Are you a first year too? I'm awfully excited, aren't you?"_

_I just followed her in silence, shocked that she was being so nice to me. Meeting Hermione seemed like the first positive thing that had happened to me all day. That was a glimmer of hope for me. I had maybe just met my first ever friend at Hogwarts._

"Neville? Neville are you okay? How much did you have to drink?" present-day Hermione was saying, dragging Neville's thoughts back to the strangers house. He grunted, refusing to give her an answer as he snatched back his drink and downed the rest of it. Hermione watched with a look of concern as he threw the bottle away and stared pessimistically at his surroundings.

"Look." she said, staring at her hands in her lap as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you felt that way and I'm sorry I never returned those feelings. It's just... with Ron... I mean... It's always been him. He's annoying and idiotic and never says the right thing but... I think I've always been in love with him. Maybe you'll find some one like that. I thought... I thought maybe it had been Lu-"

Neville got up suddenly, which he regretted as the room swayed even more violently than before. He stumbled across the room, away from Hermione's voice. He didn't want to talk about her. He didn't want to talk about anything to do with her. He just wanted to forget all about it. And so, deciding it was probably best if he went outside to get some fresh air, he drunkenly trudged to the open front door and into the small garden outside.


	2. Chapter 2

The front garden was cold and quiet. The noise and music of the house faded away as Neville moved farther away from it and sat down on a bench, letting the smell of the grass and flowers invade his nostrils. Recently, the smell of nature had reminded him of Luna, a person he didn't really enjoy being reminded of. He forced the thought out of his mind as he noticed someone walking towards him, and sitting down on the bench.

"Hi." Ginny said in a quiet voice.

"Hi." Neville replied.

Ginny made a disgusted noise. "Wow. Your breath smells terrible. How much fire whiskey have you drank?"

"Quite a bit." Neville replied honestly. "So how are you? Where's Harry?"

Ginny hesitated, and then, as if realising it was fairly safe to spill out her heart to someone who probably wouldn't remember the next day, she continued.

"I'm... coping." she said slowly. "It's been hard. With Fred gone. The whole family is a bit of a mess at the moment. I thought... I thought getting out of the house would be good for me but being here with all of the old DA members is just reminding me that he's missing. Plus, I haven't really spoken to Harry since the battle. I don't know if he's busy or if he's leaving me to have time with my family or... maybe he just... I don't know. He's the chosen one. I'm sure there are plenty of other girls chasing after him." she sighed. "You as well. You standing up to Voldemort like that was kind of badass. What did you say? _'I'll join you when hell freezes over'_ or something like that? It was pretty awesome."

"Yeah. It was kind of awesome right up to the point where he set me on fire with the sorting hat."

"But even then, you killed his snake."

"Yeah. But he still set me on fire..."

Ginny rested her head on Neville's shoulder and sighed again. "I don't know what to do. I feel kind of helpless. I keep on thinking about what I'm going to say to Harry when I see him and whatever I think of seems stupid. What do you say to the person who just defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time?"

"I don't know." Neville replied simply. Neville had no idea why Ginny was asking him this. He was in no fit state to give relationship advice, even when he was sober.

Again, Neville's mind drifted back into the past. This time the image of the old library at Hogwarts swam into his mind, as he slipped back into a memory of his fourth year.

_That morning I thought that asking someone to the Yule Ball was the most daunting thing I'd have to do that day, but I was wrong. Being rejected by the person you asked and then asking someone else was even more daunting._

_I stood there behind a tall bookshelf in the library, looking through a tiny gap between two books as my heart thumped uncomfortably. What if she thought I was joking? What if she thought I was only asking her as a last resort? I didn't want to offend her, seeing as I'd hardly ever spoken to her before. She wasn't a last resort though. I mean, I had asked Hermione to the Yule Ball, and why not? She'd always been nice to me. She'd always helped me with work if I was confused. But still, I really liked this girl, and I really didn't want to mess this up._

_She had been stood in the Herbology section of the library for a while now, slowly picking up books of the shelves and flicking through their pages as if she was looking for something. What if I asked her what she was looking for? Yes. That would be a good conversation starter. Either way if I was going to ask her I needed to do it soon. It was almost time for dinner, and the Yule Ball was only a few weeks away._

_Today her long blonde hair wasn't in pigtails like it usually was. I had been left loose, it's gentle golden waves flowing down her back. She snapped the book she was holding shut, making me jump and almost knock over the bookcase I was hiding behind. She sighed as the jammed the book back onto a shelf and started looking for a different one. Now was my chance._

_I walked out as casually as I could from behind be bookcase, almost knocking it over again. My hands started to shake as she noticed me out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at me and smiled sweetly, like she usually did when we ran into each other in the Herbology section. I was relieved to see that she recognised me. At least I wouldn't have to cope with the humiliation of asking someone to the Yule Ball who didn't even know who I was._

_I smiled back nervously, and was about to open my mouth to speak when someone grabbed the sleeve of my robes and pulled me back around the other side of the bookcase. "Neville! Neville I did something really stupid. Really really stupid." Ginny whispered extremely fast meaning I could hardly tell what she was saying. She looked extremely worried, and strangely apologetic, which put me on edge._

"_What's going on? What did you do?" I asked curiously. "And can it wait? I was kind of busy..." I peeked around the bookcase once more to see that she had gone back to looking through the books as she was before. I breathed a sigh of disappointment. The moment was over. Maybe it was a good thing I never got to ask her. I'd have probably messed it up somehow, knowing me. It was always me._

"_Neville... I was just talking to Ron and Harry in the common room, and Ron said that you'd asked Hermione to the Yule Ball and she'd turned you down. Ron and Harry still don't have dates though, and I knew they were about to ask me, and I didn't want to go to the Yule Ball with my brother, and I... well... I can't go with Harry. You see, I couldn't think of an excuse to get out of it, so I just... told them that you'd asked me and I'd said yes."_

"_What?" I asked, trying to absorb everything that she'd just said. "So wait a second, you told them that you're going to the Yule Ball with me?"_

"_Well... Yes. I didn't think you'd be angry. I mean, Hermione rejected you, I thought you'd be happy to have a date!" she said, looking concerned at the disappointed look now spreading across my face. "Neville...I'm really sorry about this..."_

"_It's fine." I said bluntly, trying to smile comfortingly. "I don't mind. What are friends for, right? I should warn you though. I'm a terrible dancer."_

_The Yule Ball wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it also could have gone a lot better. Ginny hardly spoke a word to me, constantly letting her eyes wander over to where Harry was sitting with Ron in the corner, leaving me feeling a little bit used. I even suggested that she went over and spoke to him, but her face turned bright pink and she shook her head furiously._

_After apologising to Ginny for the millionth time for standing on her feet, I finally gave up, told her I was tired and headed out of the Great Hall. I couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic as I climbed the staircase back to the common room. The only reason I'd had a date to the Yule Ball was as a last resort, to make someone jealous. No one ever took me seriously, though I thought that if I was them, I probably wouldn't take myself seriously either. _

_As I climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room, I thought of the girl from the library, and how she had smiled at me. That, at least, made me feel a little better about the disaster of an evening._

"Hey, Neville. Back to the real world." Ginny said smiling weakly as she waved her hand in front of his face. Neville blinked away the memory and turned back to Ginny. He considered telling her how she'd made him feel at the Yule Ball, but he decided against it. He didn't hold anything against her because of it, and there was no point bringing it up now.

"You know," said Neville, trying to sound wise but failing terribly, "just go and talk to him. I bet he has no idea what he's going to say to you either. He's probably just as nervous. Yeah. You should just go and talk to him."

"I suppose." mumbled Ginny.

They looked off into the darkness of the garden for a while without talking. Neville faintly heard the loud voice of Ron from the house, arguing with Hermione who – apparently, according to the shouting – wouldn't tell him what Neville had said to her.

"Neville," Ginny said, as if she'd just remembered something she'd been meaning to ask him, "I know it's an odd question, but she won't tell me so I'll ask you. What happened between you and Lu-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Neville said quickly, cutting her sentence short. He got up again and headed back into the house without another word, leaving Ginny sat in shocked silence. Ginny hadn't imagined that his reaction to the question would have been so negative, which made her wonder what had really happened between her two friends that summer.

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><p>Thank you to all of the people who have favouritedreviewed/added story alerts! Any reviews would be much appreciated, even if they're bad. Nice reviews make me smile like a idiot, just so you know. If you have any questions then just write a review or send me a message or whatever you people do and I'll try and answer them.

Spoiler: In the next chapter we might actually start talking about Luna. There will be exploding cactuses... cacti? Yeah, cacti. :)


	3. Chapter 3

When Neville finally found his way back into the living room, hoping nobody would notice his reappearance, Ron confronted him.

"YOU. What have you been saying to my girlfriend?" he said, speech slurred, pushing Neville in the shoulder and almost falling backwards as he did so. He seemed to be at least twice as drunk as Neville, but seemed more able to stand it than Neville was.

"LEAVE ME ALONE." Neville shouted back, louder than he had intended, as he the room started spinning more and more.

"You. You're just upset because LUNA left you. YEAH. You just want to ruin everybody else's relationships, because your girlfriend LEFT you."

"SHUT UP. LEAVE ME ALONE." Neville shouted again, trying to hit Ron but missing. Hermione was pulling Ron away, apologising to others who had stopped to watch what they assumed would be the start of a fight. Some started whispering about Luna, and not being able to take it any more, Neville stumbled his way into the bathroom and locked the door.

He sat on the floor and closed his eyes. He let his thoughts drift away again. Back to a time where everything seemed to make sense.

_I had made it to the last carriage of the train without finding a seat. Pulling a trunk along was not as easy as it looked, especially when one had was occupied with restraining an escapee toad. I could feel my breathing getting more and more strained as I looked through the windows of the compartments, looking for a space, but was then distracted when the escapee toad made another bid for freedom._

"_Trevor! No!" I said, as he fell to the floor and started hopping away. As I reached out to grab him I simultaneously fell to the floor and dropped my trunk on my foot. Thinking no one had seen me, I hurriedly got up again with Trevor in my grip. However from the compartment next to me I heard a loud uncontrollable laughter. As I turned the laughing stopped suddenly and a girl hurriedly hid behind an upside-down magazine. I turned bright red._

_At that moment Harry and Ginny appeared. "Hi Harry, Hi Ginny." I said, trying not to wince at the pain of the foot that had been squashed by my trunk. "Everywhere's full...I can't find a seat..."_

"_What are you talking about? There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here-"_

"_Oh... well I didn't want to disturb-" I started to mumble._

"_Don't be silly," Ginny laughed, "she's all right."_

_Ginny walked into the compartment and asked the girl if we could sit down. The girl nodded and Harry and I stowed the trunks in the luggage rack, then sat down. This was the first time I properly looked at her. _

_She had long dirty blonde hair, with her wand tucked behind her ear. She was wearing a necklace of Butterbeer corks and was reading an upside-down copy of The Quibbler. I'd never read The Quibbler, but Gran had always said it was filled with nonsense and it was a waste of parchment. The girl's unblinking eyes were fixed on Harry, and I wasn't sure she was fully listening as Ginny asked her how her summer was. She gave a vague answer, and then continued with "you're Harry Potter."_

"_I know I am." Harry said, as if he was used to people questioning if he knew he was the boy who lived. I couldn't help but laugh._

_I regretted this soon after though, as her somehow magnified-looking eyes turned to me, and my stomach churned uncomfortably. It was an disconcerting gaze._

"_...And I don't know who you are." she said, not taking her eyes off me._

"_I'm nobody." I said quickly, hoping she'd look away and also hoping she wasn't going to tell my friends how I'd managed to make a fool out of myself in public before I had even got to school._

"_No you're not." Ginny said. "Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but a Ravenclaw."_

"_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." she sang, before turning back to The Quibbler. I sat there, eyes fixed on her in a stunned silence for a while, thinking about what she must have been thinking when she had stared at me._

_After a while I snapped out of it, and decided to show Harry what I had got for my birthday. "Mimbulus mimbletonia." I said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic about plants, but failing, as he tried to hide the look of disgust on his face when seeing the it._

_I tried to show them all the plant's defence mechanism, which I probably should have attempted before trying to show people. The whole compartment ended up covered in slimy green Stinksap, and I embarrassed Harry in front of Cho Chang, which Harry didn't look too impressed about, but Ginny seemed to look strangely pleased._

_The train ride continued, and I tried to get past the humiliation of the exploding cactus. A while after the food trolley had come past, Ron and Hermione turned up and started complaining about the other new prefects. I wasn't really listening, I had gone back to trying to read the upside-down writing on the front page of The Quibbler until I heard something that caught my attention._

"_Who are the Hufflepuffs?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione._

"_Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott."_

_I almost choked on a piece of chocolate frog and started coughing loudly. The only person in the compartment who seemed to notice was Luna, who looked over the top of her magazine with a concerned, questioning look in her eyes. I tried my best to stop coughing and smiled back at her, and her eyes quickly disappeared again but I didn't stop smiling._

_When we got off the train onto the crowded Hogsmeade platform Luna spoke to me as we followed the crowd to the carriages that would take us to Hogwarts. I apologised for the millionth time about the Stinksap, and she laughed again. That wild, uncontrollable laughter that seemed to say so much more than words could. I couldn't help but like Luna Lovegood, and over the year I learnt to like her for more than her unmissable eyes and dreamy voice._

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><p>Me again. That horrible girl who promises exploding cacti and then doesn't update the story for almost three weeks. Sorry about that. :)<p>

Okay, so this chapter, it's dialogue and descriptions are HIGHLY based on an actual Chapter in the Order of the Phoenix. It's Chapter Ten, called Luna Lovegood. It's the first time they met, so I kind of had to write it in. I feel like I'm cheating, but yeah. There it is. Now you know. For more information about Exploding Cacti and such things, read that chapter!

Not sure when the next chapter will appear, but HOPEFULLY it should be soon. :)


	4. Chapter 4

_"Are you sure you're okay?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?"_

_"No, Luna. I'm fine."_

_But she wasn't stupid. She knew I wasn't fine. Everything was eerily quiet as she helped me to my seat and sat down next to me. The rows were slowly being filled with students in their dress robes. Part of me still didn't believe this was happening. Silent tears fell from tired eyes as Hagrid, who could hardly hold himself together, carried the body wrapped in purple silk through the crowd._

_I started to feel ill. I thought I was going to faint. Dumbledore was the only thing keeping Hogwarts safe and now that he was gone there was no hope at all. I looked down at my cold white hands, then closed my eyes, concentrating on repressing the tears that welled up beneath it's lids. I couldn't be weak. Not now. Our leader may have gone but Dumbledore's Army had to remain strong. I wouldn't let myself give up._

_I tried to think past the voice of the man who droned on about things I already knew. That Dumbledore was a great man. That he was an inspiration. That he had a good heart. Just as I had started to think there was no point in fighting any more and the darkness of the bright summers day started to consume me, I felt a set of warm fingers tangle themselves with mine._

_Luna's silver grey eyes were full of concern. She squeezed my hand and tried to give me a reassuring smile. I could tell that behind her positive façade she was just as scared as I was. Nothing was going to be the same without Dumbledore. The look in her eyes said that even though a lot of things would change, she'd still be there, and she'd still be there for me with a reassuring smile and something witty to say in her charmingly dream-like voice._

_Afterwards Luna and I walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest in silence. She kept on looking as if she was about to say something, but no words came. _

_She was the one who had told me when I'd woken up in the Hospital Wing. She sat there looking blankly upwards as if Dumbledore was on the ceiling, and told me what had happened. I'd never seen her cry. Just because she wasn't a Gryffindor didn't mean she wasn't brave._

_A while later, after the deadly silent train ride back to Kings Cross and several nonsense articles in the Daily Prophet had been published, I went to visit her at her house near Ottery St.. Catchpole. She lead me down the side of the small stream nearby. Apparently we were supposed to be looking for Freshwater Plimpies, but she didn't seem too interested._

_"Are you going back to school?" she asked, as soon as we'd sat down near the edge of the stream._

_"What?"_

_"When school starts again, are you going back?"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because... I don't think some people are. Some people's parents are too afraid and some... must have more important things to worry about."_

_I knew exactly what she was talking about. Both Ginny and I had also both suspected that whatever Harry, Ron and Hermione were planning, returning to Hogwarts wouldn't be part of it._

_"I don't see any point in me not going back." I said. "I'm much more useful at Hogwarts than I am sat at home with my Gran. I wouldn't even know what to do. If I went back to Hogwarts I could do something useful like... we could start up the D.A again. Something like that."_

_She took hold of my hand again and squeezed it. "Perfect. I'd feel a lot better if you were there with me."_

_Without much more thought, I kissed her._

Before he could put his thoughts through any more torment, Neville pulled himself back into the tiny bathroom. He repeatedly hit is head against a wall, trying to block out the noise of the two nervous, confused voices that echoed from the other side of the door.

"Neville, I'm sorry. Ron is sorry. Please don't let him get to you. He's drunk and upset and..." Hermione's voice drifted off, and was replaced by Ginny's. "Look, Neville, please just come out and tell us what happened. It's obviously upsetting you and talking about it helps. We're not being nosy we're just worried about you. Getting drunk and locking yourself in a bathroom isn't going to solve anything."

After a few minutes of thinking about it, trying to stand up and attempting to unlock the door, Neville emerged, his face red and blotchy from crying and unable to stand without holding onto something for support. The two girls lead him back to the living room, as many of the other party-goers had now moved out into the garden, and there, in a small, sniffily voice, he told them everything.

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><p>I'm sorry it's a lot less funny and a lot more emotional than the other chapters, but it's starting to get interesting right? I think? Maybe? :)<p>

Sorry it's not been updated in a while. Real life things got in the way. And writers block. Lots and lots of stressy writers block. Also, sorry it's shorter. This may sound ridiculous but when Neville get's upset, I get upset, and then well, it's all downhill from there.

Please write reviews and things. I might just send you an exploding cactus. WHO KNOWS? (probably not though... sorry... the stinksap gets everywhere if I try to put them in envelopes...)


	5. Chapter 5

Just as new song started on the radio, the girl who had been asleep in a big armchair in a dark corner of the living room jerked awake. When she realised what was going on, she immediately tried to block out the sound of the other voices in the room. Although she was desperately trying to concentrate of the lyrics of the song, something about the loud music couldn't block out the conversation.

"Oh Neville..." Hermione sighed.

"I know..." Neville replied, head in his hands as Ginny and Hermione sat, semi-shocked what he had told them.

"But... it's not really your fault..." Ginny said. "I mean... maybe it just wasn't meant to be... were you really that happy with the relationship anyway?"

Neville sat up. "Why? Did she look like she was unhappy? Did she say anything?"

"No!" Hermione and Ginny said in unison.

"It's just..." Hermione continued, "well, none of us could ever see Luna with a boyfriend really. She always seemed so independent." Ginny nodded in agreement and Neville put his head back in his hands.

"I just... I feel like there's something I could have done to make things better, you know? And at the same time, I think... if I could go back and change things, I don't know if I actually would. I mean I really did have feelings for her. I really did. I just don't know how I could have made it right..."

At this point, the girl in the corner got up to leave. She couldn't take it any longer. She moved into the empty kitchen and stared blankly out of the window. She tried to tell herself that she didn't care any more. That listening to Neville drunkenly rant about everyone he's ever had feelings for didn't bother her. That she didn't care that she wasn't on the list. She didn't care if she heard him say that he missed Luna. She didn't care that it he'd never felt that way about her, the same way she had always felt about him.

The girl sniffed, as a tear rolled down her cheek, but she wiped it away quickly as she knew it was stupid and pointless, and also because someone had entered the kitchen. "Hannah!" he said cheerfully, almost spilling his drink as he attempted to wave. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Why are you in here? Come outside! Everyone else is having fun!"

"I don't feel like having fun right now, Ernie." She replied coldly. "Please, just leave me alone."

"What's wrong with you? Have you been crying? It's okay to be upset! Everyone is! You just have to think of the happy stuff, right? It's all over now! Come on, come and have a drink!"

"Leave me alone." Hannah replied again, and he left, mumbling something about how she was never any fun, and always ruined it for everyone else.

Hannah supposed that she should have been happy. The war was over, Voldemort was dead. The remaining Death Eaters had gone into hiding. It made her hate herself a little how it somehow didn't seem like enough without him. She considered picking up the frying pan from the sink and hitting herself across the head with it, but just as she thought this, someone else entered the kitchen.

"Ernie, for the last time just LEAVE ME ALONE." Hannah said, spinning around to face the new resident of the kitchen, but it wasn't Ernie.

"Has anyone seen my shoes? I seem to have misplaced them..." Neville asked, looking around slowly, though Hannah was sure he wasn't absorbing any of the scenery. She looked away from him, back out of the window. Again, she considered hitting herself with the frying pan.

"Hannah... why is there three of you?" Neville asked curiously as he held onto the kitchen counter for support. At this point, she couldn't help but smile. She found it rather hard to be upset around him.

"How much have you had to drink?" she asked slowly.

"I... I can't remember. I... I don't think it was that much..." he slurred. "I don't think mixing the Fire Whiskey and the Butter Beer as a good idea though..."

At these words, Neville almost collapsed. Without thinking Hannah was immediately at his side, holding him up, saying "Neville, I think you should sit down." as she pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and made him sit on it.

"Why is everything spinning do fast? I want it to slow down. Hannah, make it slow down..." he said, resting his head on the table. She rolled her eyes and patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"There there. I'll go and find your shoes, okay? Just don't move."

He grunted in reply, and as soon as Hannah stepped out into the hallway she was faced with Hermione. "Have you seen a random pair of shoes? Neville's lost them..."

Hermione laughed, holding up the shoes that Hannah hadn't noticed she was holding. "I was going to give them to him myself, but it's probably best if someone else does it after how Ron reacted tonight. Sometimes I wonder why I'm in love with him..."

There was the sound of someone vomiting in the kitchen. Hannah started to wonder the same thing.

"It's good that you're looking after him." Hermione continued. "I don't think he's ever been this drunk before." She smiled, handed Hannah the shoes and walked out into the Garden where apparently Harry Potter had arrived moments before, resulting into Ginny mysteriously disappearing.

Hannah went back into the kitchen to find Neville with his head in the sink. "Why won't everything stop spinning? It's making me feel sick... I don't like it..."

"Oh honey..." she said, unsure of that to say. "I found your shoes though. We've always got to concentrate on the positives, right?"

He started vomiting again.

"Well... at least now you won't feel as sick. See? Positives," she said, still trying to sound cheerful, though it was now less convincing.

"I feel terrible... I just want to go home and sleep..."

"Where's your house?" Hannah asked, trying to ignore how awkward the situation was.

"I... I can't remember. Am I drunk? I can't go home if I'm drunk! Gran will kill me! Don't make me go home!" he started pleading with her.

"Okay then..." Hannah said. She sighed, and somewhat regretfully said "My house isn't that far away. You can stay there until tomorrow and then you can go back home."

"Really? YOU'RE AMAZING." Neville said, somewhat in awe.

"Yeah... okay..." Hannah hesitated. She prayed that Neville wouldn't wake up her dad. She could picture her father stood there in his pajamas, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised, as he saw her attempt to sneak a drunken boy into their house.

After at least ten minutes of him trying to put his shoes back on and failing spectacularly, he finally manages it, and with one of his arms around Hannah's shoulders, was lead outside into the darkness of the night sky.

* * *

><p>I'm quite thankful that this is actually uploaded now, so I don't have to feel weird about having published a fanfiction about Neville and Hannah without Hannah actually being mentioned that much. YAY.<p>

As always, please review and things. The next bit is actually sort-of already written and thus this story shall probably be updated very soon. Thank you for reading! :)


	6. Chapter 6

"See?" Hannah said, almost collapsing under Neville's weight, "Fresh air. This will make you feel better."

"Why is it always me?" he moaned, still unable to hold up his head properly.

"Why is it always you that what?"

"I always mess everything up... I never do anything right. Sometimes I think I should just give up. There's no point in trying any more."

"That's not true! You destroyed the last horrcru... horcum... Voldemort's snake! Without you Harry wouldn't have been able to defeat him! You got the sword of Gryffindor out of the sorting hat! You didn't mess that up." Hannah ranted, before realising it was pretty pointless to attempt to reason with a drunk person.

"Why is walking so hard?" he continued to moan. "See? I'm so stupid I can't even walk. I'm just going to apparate..."

"Don't you dare." Hannah said, holding tightly onto his arm. "Neville, you can't apparate, not when you're like this. You'll get splinched for sure."

"Burgh... that doesn't sound fun..."

"It isn't. Definitely not fun. Promise me you won't try to apparate?"

"But...I'm tired..."

"Promise."

"Fine." he said, giving off the impression of a small child who hadn't got what they wanted. "I promise, but only because you've got really pretty eyes and I don't want you to hate me."

"Come on. It's not that far now." Hannah replied, secretly glad that it was dark so he couldn't see the violent shade of red that she felt burning on her cheeks. She thought about telling him exactly how she felt, safe in the knowledge that he'd have no recollection of it tomorrow morning, but she kept her mouth closed. She was too scared of what he could say.

"I wish Luna would talk to me..." he mused sadly, as if giving Hannah another reason not to confess. "She won't talk to me. I want to apologise for messing everything up, but she won't talk to me any more..."

Hannah sighed. Curiosity took over, and she asked "Why? Do you wish she'd take you back?" knowing that she probably didn't want to know the answer.

"No... It wasn't right." he said. "I just wish it wouldn't have ended like that... I feel terrible about it. She keeps on saying it's not my fault but it is. I'm so stupid... I mess everything up..."

Hannah sighed again, then said "Do you remember when you met me in the room of requirement? Before the battle? What you said then wasn't stupid. It was pretty amazing, actually."

Neville's eyes crinkled in concentration as he tried to remember what he had said, and again he found himself wandering back into the world of his memories.

_I walked along a deserted corridor, almost not recognising where I was. After getting lost so many times in my first years at Hogwarts, I had finally mapped out the whole castle in my head, but everything had changed now. Everything seemed darker and colder, even though the same bright torches lit the walls. I hadn't seen proper sunlight all year, but that was mainly because Dementors stalked the castle grounds, meaning no one went outside any more. Even the portraits that lined the walls had fallen silent. They, like the rest of us, knew that Hogwarts had changed for the worse. _

_I cast my thoughts back to two years ago, when Dumbledore was still here, and everything just seemed so much easier. Back when there was still threats on the outside but everyone felt safe in the castle. But Hogwarts wasn't safe any more. Hogwarts had lost all hope._

_I started thinking about the days of Dumbledore's Army. I remembered how great it felt to be actually learning some Defence Against the Dark Arts, instead of being forced to cast the spells that we were supposed to be defending ourselves against._

_I heard footsteps. Ernie Macmillan appeared, looking frantically around and cursing under his breath. He jumped as his eyes fell across me. "Neville!" he said, visibly thankful that I wasn't one of the Carrows. "Have you seen Hannah?"_

"_No." I replied. "Why? What's happened?"_

"_Damn... I've lost her. We were in a Muggle Studies lesson and... Alecto was talking about how disgusting it was that some witches and wizards actually marry muggles and have children with them. How it was vile and unnatural. How those who do marry muggles should be punished... Hannah couldn't take it any more. She just got up and left. Now I have no idea where she is..."_

"_If I find her I'll let you know." I said quickly, giving him a reassuring smile. As soon as he had disappeared down the corridor I hastily made my way up to the seventh floor. I knew exactly where she'd be._

_I walked past the concealed door three times, listening hard in case I heard voices approaching. Thankfully by the time the distinctive footsteps of Amycus Carrow could be heard echoing up the corridor, the door into the Room of Requirement was almost completely faded back into nothingness._

_Hannah didn't even flinch when she heard me come in. The room had taken the form of the space we used for DA meetings, though there had been very few of them since we had returned to Hogwarts this year. Either the old members weren't checking their coins or they had just given up any hope of Hogwarts returning to how it used to be._

_She sat alone on the floor in a corner with her head in her hands. In the time since her mother had been killed by death eaters, the time that she had spent away from Hogwarts, I could see that she had aged dramatically. Her pigtails were gone. Her optimistic glow seemed dimmer. She wasn't crying, but I had a feeling that she had been very recently. When she looked up quickly to see who I was her eyes were red, and as she started to speak I could tell she was holding back tears._

"_Ernie's looking for me isn't he?" she asked._

_I just nodded._

"_I shouldn't have walked out of the lesson." she said. "It's just... the way she stared right at me as she said it. I couldn't take it any more. It's only going to make things worse though. I shouldn't have let it get to me. It was stupid. I was stupid."_

"_You're not stupid. You're not even close." I said putting my arm around her as she looked like she was going to start crying again._

"_I've never been good at anything. I am stupid. I've done terribly in all of my exams. Remember when I had a breakdown in Herbology before the O.W.L's? And when I turned a ferret into a flock of flamingos in the Transfiguration exam?"_

"_That's not stupidity, that's just nerves." I said reassuringly. "Stupidity is when you walk away with the sorting hat still on your head in the sorting ceremony."_

_I thought I almost heard her laugh. "I remember that." she said, wiping tears out of her eyes._

"_See? Being hung from a chandelier by Cornish pixies is much worse than the flock of flamingos. Oh, and remember my first flying lesson? Oh no, you weren't there were you?"_

"_No, but I heard people talking about it." she chuckled. "Yeah... that was pretty stupid."_

"_Tell me about it." I said, smiling at my past mishaps. "Tell you what though, if I'd have never lost control of that broomstick, I would have never have dropped my remembrall, Draco never would have stolen it, Harry would have never got it back, and then he wouldn't have got on the Quidditch team. See? Every cloud has a sliver lining."_

"_Not every cloud." she said, in a pessimistic tone._

_There was a long silence._

"_Hannah... if you ever feel like it's getting too much for you... I know how it feels to lose your parents because of Death Eaters. If you ever need someone to talk to, then you know I'm here for you."_

"_Thank you..." she whispered._

"_You've just got to concentrate on the positives." I said. "If things do get worse... if we have to fight... at least we know we're doing it for the right reasons. At least we know we're on the right side."_

_She smiled, something I hadn't seen her do in a long time. Then suddenly getting self-conscious, she moved away from me, moving my arm from around her shoulders, and stood up._

"_I heard about Luna being taken by death eaters on the train at Christmas. I'm sorry." she said, not looking me in the eye._

"_Yeah..." I said, not sure what to say._

"_But we have to concentrate on the positives." she said, holding out her hand to help me up off the floor. _

"Yeah..." Neville said, now back in the present day. "That wasn't so stupid..." But Hannah shushed him, as she carefully unlocked the front door of her home and opened the door trying not to make a sound. This was all in vain though. Hannah should have known that an extremely worried Mr. Abbott, especially since his wife's death, wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing where his daughter was. He stood in the hallway, folding his arms as he saw her supporting a drunken boy, who was now smiling to himself, his thoughts a million miles away.

"...I promise it's not as bad as it looks." Hannah said, after a long pause. "He just needs somewhere to sleep. Nothing is... going on."

"Right. I see." Mr. Abbott said. "Make sure he's gone by morning. I'll let you explain it all then."

Taking a sigh of relief, Hannah lead Neville into the living room where she lay him down on the couch and put a blanket over him. He was still smiling to himself. She was too tired to wonder why.

* * *

><p>I don't really have anything to add to this chapter apart from that I'm sorry it took so long and I really hope you like it.<p>

I'm serious about not apparating when you're drunk though. Just don't do it. It's not good.


	7. Chapter 7

Neville lay with his eyes closed on the couch, unable to lie comfortably and waiting for sleep to subdue his wandering mind. In the meantime, he started to look back on things from his years at Hogwarts that he'd never really thought about before. To him, they hadn't seemed important then, but that might have changed.

_Mandrakes. I'd had hardly any breakfast, I'd had a huge package from Gran of things I had forgotten dropped on my head by an owl, and now we were potting Mandrakes. It wasn't really the start to the year I had hoped for._

_"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet." Professor Sprout said casually._

_I readjusted my earmuffs (which were obviously the pink fluffy ones no one else had wanted) just to make sure I was safe. Hermione gave me a comforting smile. She could always tell when I was worried._

_"Four to a tray – there is a large supply of pots here – compost in the sacks over there – and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething."_

_Dean, Seamus and I were joined by a tall Hufflepuff boy that I didn't know, but it didn't seem to matter as the earmuffs blocked out all sound. We hesitantly started pulling the reluctant Mandrakes from their pots. Although their tiny screaming faces made me feel a little faint, it wasn't that bad. After all, Herbology was my favourite lesson._

_When I returned from getting more compost from the sack in the corner, Dean and Seamus were both grinning at me. Obviously I couldn't ask them why because even if I'd shouted they wouldn't have heard me. Dean nodded his head towards a bench on the other side of the greenhouse._

_As soon as I looked up, a Hufflepuff girl with blonde pigtails looked away nervously, her cheeks turning red. I noticed that she, like me, had also been left with the fluffy pink earmuffs._

_The boy next to her – I think his name was Ernie – noticed that something was going on. He looked from his friend to see Dean, Seamus and I looking back at him, then rolled his eyes and uprooted another Mandrake, kicking his friend as if to tell her to get a move on._

_I had never been so confused. Who was the girl? Why was she embarrassed?_

_"As if you didn't notice." Seamus said, when I asked him as we walked from the Greenhouses back to the Castle._

_"Didn't notice what?"_

_"She couldn't keep her eyes off you!" Dean said. "All lesson."_

_"When you went to get more compost her eyes followed you around the room." Seamus added, half laughing. "She stopped as soon as we noticed though."_

_"Why was she looking at me?" I asked. Immediately, I thought there must have been something on my face._

_"Maybe you should ask her." Dean said, nudging me in the arm._

_I just ignored them._

He tried to roll over, almost falling of the couch, and found himself in another memory.

"_Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you remember. Allow it to fill you up-"_

_Harry made it all sound so easy, but I couldn't think of a happy memory. Silver strands of light had begun to dance their way through the room of requirement, but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't._

"_A full body Patronus is the most difficult to produce, but shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents." Harry continued, though I wasn't really listening._

_Luna was looking at me expectantly as her rabbit Patronus hopped through the air. I tried to smile back, though I knew that like the rest of the spells we had learnt in the DA meetings, I wasn't going to be naturally good at casting a Patronus._

"_Just remember, you patronus can only protect you as long as you stay focused. Think of the happiest thing you can."_

_Harry was standing right next to me now, watching my failed nervous attempts. He didn't look too surprised. _

"_I am trying." I said, trying to defend myself._

"_You're almost there." Came a voice from next to me. I turned around to see Hannah Abbott stood at my shoulder. "Just stay calm and focused."_

"_I can't concentrate. I can't think of a good enough memory."_

"_Yes you can, you're just nervous." she said. "Just take a deep breath and try again. You can do it. I believe in you."_

_I thought of my family. I remembered a moment from when I was younger._

_I'd stolen a photo album from the bookshelf downstairs, and I'd sat in my room staring at each picture for what felt like hours. Pictures of my parents. Their wedding day. Me as a baby. Their faces laughing, grinning at me from the page._

_Obviously, Gran found me with it. I wasn't supposed to take it without asking, and when she did let me look at it she'd always take it away quickly. I thought she'd be angry._

_She tried to shout at me, but words failed her. She just looked at me with a sympathetic look. I thought she was going to cry, but she didn't. Gran never cried. She was too strong._

_We sat there together for a long time, looking through the album. She told me stories about my parents, and answered any questions I had. It was the first time we properly spoke about what happened to them. When I fell asleep that night, I was happy. My parents felt more real._

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

_A few strands of silver flew from the end of my wand, but disappeared quickly as I lost concentration to the shock of what I had just done._

"_See! I told you!" Hannah said, smiling and clapping. _

_I smiled back, half laughing. I couldn't believe it. "Thanks." I said._

"_No problem." she said, still smiling as she went and stood with some of her Hufflepuff friends._

_I was frozen there watching her for a second. She had such a good smile._

"_You like her don't you?" whispered a voice in my ear. It was Luna._

"_What? No I don't." I muttered, going slightly red._

"_You do. I can see." she said._

"_I don't." What I really wanted to say was 'No, I don't like her, I kind of like you, actually.' but I knew I never would._

"_Whatever you say." she replied._

_As much as I denied it, I couldn't help but think there might have been a little bit of truth in what she said._

He rolled over again, trying to distract himself. Half telling himself that there was no chance that any of these things meant that Hannah liked him, half hoping that she actually did. But this was stupid, wasn't it? What about Luna?

Luna.

His mind wandered off again.

"_NEVILLE, THE GIRL IS DERANGED."_

"_I am NOT deranged. They DO exist!"_

"_Don't be so stupid! You and your father printing things in that ridiculous newspaper about creatures that don't exist... It's MADNESS. Neville, what do you see in this girl?"_

"_Mrs. Longbottom. I can assure you that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack is very much real."_

"_She's crazy, Neville. Here, have you ever seen one?"_

"_No..."_

"_Exactly!"_

"_They're shy creatures Mrs. Longbottom! Evidence shows-"_

"_THERE IS NO EVIDENCE. What other nonsense creatures have you and your father invented? The Gulping Plimpy? The Umgubular Slashkilter? NARGLES?"_

"_No... Gran... not the Nargles... please don't insult the Nargles..." I pleaded, but she shot me the look that I knew meant I should keep my mouth closed. Luna was looking more and more upset by the second. If I'd known that the only reason my grandmother wanted to meet her was so she could call her crazy I would have kept them apart for as long as possible._

_Luna muttered something about having to leave, tears welling up in her eyes. I could hardly believe the look of satisfaction on Gran's face as Luna escaped out into the garden though the back door. I followed her._

"_Luna, don't listen to her, she's only trying to wind you up."_

_She didn't speak. She just stood there looking straight ahead, her eyes expressionless. This often happened when me and Luna got close to arguing. She'd just stare off into the distance saying nothing. Recently, it had begun to happen more frequently._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't know she was going to do that." I said, knowing it wouldn't really make a difference._

_After a long silence she actually spoke. Even though her voice was soft and quiet as it usually was, it made me jump._

"_I'm going back to Sweden with my dad, to look for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack." she said, not looking me in the eye. After another pause she said "It's probably best if we don't talk for a while."_

_Another long silence followed._

_Things hadn't been the same since the battle. Since the danger had gone, we'd kind of run out of things to talk about. The argument with Gran had been the end of a long line of disagreements._

"_So... we're kind of breaking up then, aren't we?" I asked._

_She nodded stiffly in reply._

He rolled over again, and this time, finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Aaaaah the joys of Neville's memories. They're actually really fun to write.<p>

I'm thinking there's about two chapters of this story left. So yeah, that's a thing. Please review and things. :)


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Neville felt terrible. His head was pounding, all light seemed too bright for his eyes and every sound was shrill and painful.

_Congratulations Neville. In the space of a couple of hours, you've probably made a complete fool of yourself, said loads and loads of things you shouldn't have, made most of your friends hate you, and ended up on a sofa in the house of a girl that you have kind of liked for quite a while, with absolutely no idea how you got there. Oh, and your grandmother is probably going to murder you when you get home. Well done._

He had woken up in a house he didn't remember ever being in, looked around and saw Hannah asleep in an arm chair. He was now sat at the kitchen table in silence, wishing he had a Remembrall or a Time Turner or anything that would help him improve the awkward situation. But there was nothing. It was hopeless. Why was it always him?

To only make things worse, Neville was not alone in the kitchen. Mr Abbott was stood next to the kitchen counter, cup to tea in hand, looking at him curiously. Neville looked down at the table and kept his mouth closed. He vaguely remembered throwing up in a sink, and hoped that it wasn't the one that Mr Abbott was standing next to.

"You'd better not break her heart."

Neville looked up. "Pardon?"

"I said you'd better not break her heart. She's already been through enough." Mr Abbott said, looking him straight in the eye.

"Shut up dad." Hannah said as she wandered into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "He's just a friend."

"Of course he is." Mr Abbott muttered sarcastically.

"You look terrible." Hannah said, turning to Neville and ignoring her father.

"I feel it too." he replied.

"Come on, I have an idea." Hannah said, heading towards the back door and out into the garden.

He followed her down the garden path, over the gate and across a field until they reached a forest, which Hannah entered, not looking back at Neville, who was hardly in the right mood or state for long walks this early in the morning.

"Sorry about my dad." Hannah said. "He's been like that ever since mum died."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I can imagine my Gran would have had a similar reaction."

Hannah laughed, somewhat nervously. "How much do you remember from last night?"

"I remember throwing up in a sink... and looking for my shoes... did I have an argument with Ron?"

"Yeah, and then you locked yourself in a bathroom and cried." she said with a small smile.

"Great. What were we even shouting about?"

"Oh, he was annoyed because Hermione wouldn't tell him what you told her. Kind of childish really, but then he brought up Luna and you tried to hit him."

"Ah. You don't by any chance happen to know what I told Hermione do you?"

"I think I overheard someone say that you told her that you liked her for ages and she never paid attention to you or something like that. I'm guessing you had a similar conversation with Ginny as well. You were sat outside with her talking for quite a while."

Neville couldn't help but sense the tone of annoyance in Hannah's voice. Was she telling him everything? He could vaguely remember thinking about the Room of Requirement and Herbology. What if he had told her something stupid?

"So anyway, you were throwing up in a sink, and I volunteered to take you home, you said that you couldn't because your Gran would kill you if she saw you drunk, and then I said you could crash at my house until morning, and then you said I was amazing."

"You kind of are amazing. Thanks for looking out for me."

Hannah went slightly pink. "It's fine. Um... I think there's some weird herbs around here that are supposed to be a great hangover cure. I think. I haven't dragged you into the middle of a forest for nothing or anything..."

"Did I say anything else to you?" Neville asked, sure she was hiding something.

"You moaned a lot." she said. "Kept on going on about how everything always goes wrong and you're hopeless at everything, and I tried to convince you to _look at the positives _but you weren't really listening."

"Anything else?"

Hannah laughed. "Oh yeah, you told me that you were in love with me." she said sarcastically, trying to brush off her feelings for him as if they weren't really there.

Unfortunately for him Neville was, in his still slightly drunken state, unable to tell the difference between sarcasm and seriousness.

"...I'm really sorry, Hannah. I don't know... I didn't mean... well, it's not that I didn't mean-"

"Neville, I was kidding. Wait, what?"

But he wasn't listening.

"I don't... I don't really know. I mean, I thought, maybe... but I shouldn't have got that drunk and I never should have said anything like that. I'm really sorry. It's really unfair on you, especially with what happened with Luna- OW."

In one swift movement, Hannah slapped him hard across the face.

"Ow." Neville said again.

"I'm sorry." Hannah said quickly. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. You didn't say anything. I was joking. Let's just ignore this ever happened, okay?"

"Hannah, wait-"

"No. No. It's okay. You should just go. I was joking. I thought it was unrealistic enough to be obviously sarcastic. I'm sorry. Just go."

She started to away from him, her hand still tingling with the force with which she had hit him.

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean? You thought it was _unrealistic enough_?"

"Just go."

Hannah was confused. Had he just said that he liked her? She had no idea, and she didn't think he did either. Distracted by the hurricane of emotion thundering around her head, she didn't look where she was putting her feet.

She tripped on a fallen branch, and fell face first into a pile of leaves. She lay there for a while, trying to resist the urge to cry.

"Are you okay?" Neville asked.

"I'm fine. Just go."

He sighed. "That's not fair. Look, it's not your fault that I took what you said the wrong way, but to say it's too unrealistic that I would ever have feelings for you is just... that just not true. You're amazing, and I'm not saying that just because you looked after me while I was being a depressive drunk, I mean it because you're intelligent and beautiful and strong and I genuinely like you as a person. That's why I almost asked you to the Yule ball. That's why I tried to cheer you up in the Room of Requirement last year. I'm pretty sure that if I'd have been sorted into Hufflepuff I'd have been obsessed with you from the first year, but I hardly ever got to talk to you. Maybe... if things had been different..."

While he'd been ranting, Hannah had rolled over and sat up, brushing the leaves off her clothes. "I really wish I'd talked to you more at school. I was just... I was too scared that you weren't the person that I thought you were."

He laughed. "Did you think I was the type of person to get drunk and shout at people?"

"No... But I wasn't sure you were the type of person to stand up to the Carrows... or Voldemort, either. _We have to concentrate on the positives_." she said, mimicking his voice.

He smiled, and offered her his hand to help her up.

"You should send me an owl sometime. I think... I think maybe we should get to know each other more."

Hannah beamed back. "Okay."

He was still holding her hand, which she was very conscious of. She could hear her heartbeat quicken but she was determined to play it cool.

"So I guess I'll hear from you soon then?" she asked looking up into his eyes.

"I guess so." he said, holding her gaze for a moment.

But they didn't kiss. Not this time.

No, there would be plenty of time for that.


	9. Epilogue

Around six months later, Hannah Abbott was in Flourish and Blotts, standing on the tips of her toes trying to get a good look at the top row on the shelf of books she was standing next to. From the distance she heard a faint popping noise, and footsteps sounded from behind her. Suddenly she heard a voice that came from just over her left shoulder, sending shivers down her spine.

"I think this might be the one you're looking for." the voice said, as a hand reached over her and picked up a book easily from the highest row, but Hannah had lost all interest in the books. She squealed, turning around on the spot and throwing her arms around the man stood behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly, almost lifting her off her feet.

"I've missed you so much! Why are you even here? Aren't you supposed to be working? You should have told me you were coming!" she said very fast, self-consciously flattening her hair, making him laugh.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, and you shouldn't miss me that much, we more or less send owls to each other every day." Neville said, pushing her hair out of her face and making her cheeks go slightly red. "Hermione decided it was time to go and try to reverse the memory charm that she put on her parents. She's gone to Australia with Harry and Ron to try and find them. I'm off work until they get back."

She hugged him again, as if to make sure he was really there. "I worry about you though." she said. "and sending each other letters just makes me miss you even more." Then her eyes lit up as she remembered something. "Did you know you were in the Daily Prophet a few days ago?"

"Was I?"

"Yes! Single handedly capturing an ex-Death Eater!" she said, pulling the newspaper out of her bag and showing him. Since the battle of Hogwarts, the Daily Prophet had once again started telling the truth, and people were gaining more and more optimism as the lists of the dead were replaced with the lists of the few old followers of Voldemort that were being arrested and taken to Azkaban. "Who would have known," she said, smiling faintly, "my boyfriend, the dark wizard catcher. Your parents would be so proud of you."

Neville didn't know what he loved more; the fact that she had called him her boyfriend or the look of pride in her eyes when she said it. "Well..." he said, his ears turning bright red. "I don't know if I'm going to carry on with this Auror stuff, it just doesn't feel right. I was thinking I might try and find a job in Herbology..."

"That's wonderful!" she replied. "You were always so good at Herbology, everyone could tell."

"I suppose." he sighed. "What about you? How is the job hunt going?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "It would be going wonderfully if I could actually find somewhere that was employing people. There's a position open for a barmaid at the Leaky Cauldron but it's only temporary... I don't know if I should go and ask about it or not."

"Take it!" he replied, without hesitation. "Even if it is only temporary, it'll give you more time to search. Plus, once they see how amazing you are at looking after drunk people they're bound to give you a permanent job."

"I'll think about it." she laughed. "The barmaid and the Auror... what a odd couple."

Neville ignored this, tilting up her chin and kissing her lightly. Hannah's face flushed red, and she looked around the bookshop to make sure that no one was watching.

"Ashamed of me?" he asked jokingly, trying to hide his fear that she actually might be. She replied by hitting him over the head with the book she was holding, and giving him a look that told him he should never doubt her ever again. "I'm sorry," he said, "it's just I can't really believe you really fell for a guy like me. Especially after the most awkward first kiss in human existence."

She replied again by hitting him with the book, then placing her hand on the back of his neck and pulling his face down to meet hers, kissing him passionately. For a second, Neville forgot how to breathe.

"I can't believe you fell for me either, but I'm not going to give you a chance to change your mind. I intend on keeping you forever. Just in case you didn't know, us Hufflepuffs are well known for their loyalty." she whispered.

Neville's life seemed to flash before his eyes. From walking away with the sorting hat still on his head, to being endlessly tormented by the Carrows, to him it all seemed worth it, to be stood here in a bookshop gazing into the beautiful big brown eyes of someone who truly loved him, and who he truly loved back.

In that moment, he was glad that it was always him.

* * *

><p>THE END. Thank you for reading. Please tell me if you liked it, or hated it, or thought I should have done something differently. I kind of would like to get some stories published one day (I know right, like EVERYONE else) so if you have any tips or anything then those would be appreciated. I kind of feel a little sad that the story ends here. I have ideas for a kind-of sequel but they're really depressing so I think I better just stop. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Have a nice day! :)<p> 


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